Episode 1
The first episode of A Clear Midsummer Night originally aired on April 25, 2013. Recap Xia Wan Qing is first seen in her house, putting up photos and ornaments. She leaves in her car and drives through the streets of Qingdao to work. While waiting for the lift, she greets the editor, Hua, who is showered with compliments from her colleagues. When she arrives at her desk, there are flowers and chocolates waiting for her, as happens every Wednesday. Two of her employees come to tell her that her meeting with Chairman Qiao will be at 3pm. The meeting was going to be with Hua, but Wan Qing now has to go instead. The employees stand there gossiping about how Wan Qing's life is better than Hua's, especially as she has a partner, until she tells them to get back to work. Later, the two employees admit to their co-worker that they were just saying these things to suck up to their boss. They reveal their true feeling that Wan Qing's partner is insincere to send flowers and chocolate and has never showed genuine emotion to want to spend time with her. As Wan Qing is rich, they think she is naive and her partner only wants her for money. If he has an affair in future, they think Wan Qing won't even realise it. As they get up to leave, they are embarrassed to discover that Wan Qing was listening to their whole conversation. Reacting to what she heard, Wan Qing calls her partner, Ling Tian, who is at work at Hua Lang Group HQ, and asks him out for lunch. He says it will depend on his meetings and if Chairman Xia already has lunch plans. Just then, Chairman Xia comes around the corner and asks Ling Tian to end the call. He takes Ling Tian and some of his colleagues into his office, very happy at the company having appeared on the front page of the Blue Bird Morning Post. He tells them that there are lots of companies wanting to poach his employees, especially Ling Tian. Ling Tian says that everything he knows comes from Chairman Xia, and pledges his loyalty to Chairman Xia, who is pleased. Wan Qing has a meeting with Editor Hua, who shares with her the details of Qiao Corporation. The company was founded abroad in the 1980s, but moved back to China. Their businesses include distribution, hotel chains, international trade and real estate. When the current chairman's father, Qiao Ju Long, took over the company, he was the one who expanded the business into real estate. Hua then describes how their magazine got this interview. She had requested an interview with Chairman Qiao many times, but he never accepted, as he is a very quiet person. But when she proposed that Wan Qing conduct the interview, he accepted. Wan Qing theorizes that it's because she and her father have had dealings with Chairman Qiao in the business world. The conversation then turns to the chairman's son, Qiao Jin Fan. Hua asks Wan Qing what she knows about him. Wan Qing says he is a playboy who just does nothing all day. Hua says that Jin Fan is planning to build an entertainment centre, but Wan Qing doesn't know about it. Hua says that the father and son should be working together, but they always compete with each other. She asks Wan Qing to start her interview by talking about this topic. Later, Wan Qing arrives at her interview, which is in Chairman Qiao's office, and the chairman offers her some tea. She is very polite and grateful to the chairman for accepting the interview, but Qiao asks her not to be so formal as they have both been in the business world. He praises her father, Xia Zheng Lang, and feels sad that their two companies have never done business together, hoping that this will change in the future. Wan Qing says that her father mentions Qiao a lot, and praises his company. Qiao responds with his own praise for Chairman Xia's company, especially achievements in the construction and solar energy sectors. The scene changes to a swimming pool, with lots of beautiful girls around. Two young men are sitting at a table discussing a business proposal. The man making the proposal, Lao Hu, is only prepared to discuss the details with Director Qiao, as he wants to understand Qiao's needs. He asks for some time with Director Qiao. The other man, Xie Chuang, asks him if he dares to wake Qiao up. We see Director Qiao, a young man, lying asleep with a book over his face, and a scantily-clad girl giving him a massage. Back at the interview, Chairman Qiao observes that Wan Qing and her brother have a good relationship, and tells her that he has failed as a father. He wishes he had had children like Wan Qing. Wan Qing notes that the chairman's son is very ambitious. The scene switches back to the pool, where we see Director Qiao Jin Fan, the son of Chairman Qiao Ji Yun, waking up from his nap. Lao Hu and the beautiful girls all rush to his side, while Xie Chuang sits alone, seemingly disappointed that none of the girls stayed with him. Jin Fan mock-apologizes for falling asleep, saying his father never taught him how to be polite. He reads to the assembled group from his book, which is about how dialogue from movies can be used to understand the deep meaning of life. He admits that he fell asleep after reading it. The group, especially Lao Hu, look very confused. Lao Hu praises Qiao Jin Fan's deep understanding of cinema. Suddenly, Jin Fan throws the book at Lao Hu, sarcastically saying his understanding is very deep. He starts hitting Lao Hu with a beach ball, saying he (Jin Fan) understands nothing...and that the limit of his understanding is to lend money to someone like Lao Hu to make a movie, then take the profit from it. All the girls giggle, and Lao Hu agrees with Director Qiao's words. Jin Fan then jumps into the pool, soon joined by others, including Xie Chuang, who praises Jin Fan's words. Chairman Qiao suddenly gets up from his chair and calls one of his employees, Fang Ting. He tells her to call the Blue Bird Morning Post and reserve tomorrow's headline, as Qiao Corporation has an important announcement to make. Wan Qing apologizes as she had assumed the chairman knew about Jin Fan's plan to build an entertainment city. Chairman Qiao worries about his family's reputation, as they have been in honest business for decades, and is incredulous over his son's planned new business venture. He storms out of the office, calling to Zhao Hou. Next, we see a young man talking with one of the magazine's employees. They are looking at a fish tank. The young man says that the fish are so sad they are about to die, and this is because no one loves them, talks to them or plays with them. The magazine employee says that Hua treats the fish like her own children, but the man finds this hard to believe, saying that they have sad faces. Just then, Hua enters. She tells the young man not to touch her fish. She doesn't think the fish are unhappy, and tells the young man that he is not a fish so he doesn't know. Wang Qing enters and drags the young man, her brother Xia Wan Yang, out of the office, asking him why he walked into Hua's office. He tells her how sad he feels for the fish, but Wan Qing is not happy at how he has criticized Hua, her boss. Wan Yang advises his sister to get married soon, so that she can be rid of her boss, stating that female bosses are the worst. Wan Qing asks him why he is not at work, but he says that their dad and Ling Tian can handle it, while he can drive her home so she can have more time with Ling Tian. She is happy with this idea, but it has all been a rouse, as Ling Tian is actually waiting right outside. He apologizes for not being able to make lunch, but says he came to pick her up from work instead. Wan Yang advises his sister to be restrained, but Wan Qing ignores his supposedly protective words, saying that he has never dated anyone so is not qualified to give advice. On the roads, Wan Yang is driving his car, taking his sister and her boyfriend home, when Jin Fan's car comes into view. Jin Fan is driving, with Xie Chuang in the passenger seat, and three of the girls dancing through the open top roof. Another vehicle is alongside and Lao Hu is hanging out of the side. Ling Tian is not impressed by their crazy behaviour. To make matters worse, one of the girls from Jin Fan's car shakes a champagne bottle, causing the cork to pop out into Wan Yang's car and hit Wan Qing. Ling Tian checks she is okay. Wan Yang asks Ling Tian for help in retaliating. He hands a plastic bag of items to Ling Tian, who starts to prepare with a soft drink bottle. When Wan Yang has confirmed Ling Tian is ready, he pulls up alongside Jin Fan's car, and Ling Tian sprays it, causing the car to have to stop. Jin Fan finds the whole thing funny, saying goodbye to Wan Yang's car and praising their effort. When Wan Qing and Wan Yang (together with Ling Tian) arrive home, their mother is waiting for them. She is annoyed that they are back late...and, smelling the alcohol on Wan Qing's clothes, is astounded that Wan Qing was drinking, as she is a lady. Wan Yang explains their run-in with the Qiao entourage (without mentioning them by name) and that the alcohol was sprayed on them by that group. His mother is not pacified, now turning to chastise Ling Tian for not protecting her daughter and also for his financial situation. Ling Tian promises to do better. The conversation then turns to the air temperature, as Wan Yang is incredulous that his mother did not turn on the AC. She tells him that she prefers the natural air and that making money is not easy for Chairman Xia so she doesn't want to waste it. She tells Wan Yang to go to see his dad, while chastising Wan Qing and asking her to go to take a shower. As the siblings pass each other, Wan Yang reminds Wan Qing to keep her phone turned on. Wan Yang and Ling Tian visit Chairman Xia in his bedroom. Wan Yang keeps the phone on to Wan Qing so she can hear the conversation. The chairman informs them of the death of Lao Xu of the Xu Corporation, after a heart attack. His land is now in his wife's name, and Qiao Corporation are already looking to get it. Chairman Xia says that the Xia Corporation has to get the land, and we can no longer wait. Ling Tian says that he already made an appointment with Madam Xu for the next day. The chairman then pulls out some files from his desk. Musing that it is much easier to clear financial debt than personal history, he stresses the importance of having a clean background. He hands the files over to the two young men, telling them to use the files if Madam Xu refuses to properly negotiate. He says that Madam Xu does not deserve their respect. Wan Yang changes the subject to talk about Wan Qing and Ling Tian's relationship. His father responds that if they close the deal for the land, he will allow Ling Tian and Wan Qing to get married, and promote Ling Tian to vice director. Just then, Ge Mei Qiao (his wife) comes into the room and feels annoyed that Wan Qing is seen like a trophy to be won. As Ling Tian is an employee of Hua Lang Group, it's his job to close the deal. Wan Yang stresses how low Ling Tian's salary is and advises raising it to drive employee retention, but Mei Qiao snaps back that he knows nothing about business! However, Chairman Xia reminds his wife that this is his decision alone, and his decision is final. Wan Yang and Ling Tian are both happy, although Wan Yang says he will hold his father to these words, as we see Wan Qing is still listening on the phone. Just as they are leaving, Mei Qiao comes up with the idea that Wan Qing should be involved with the negotiation, as women deal better with women (especially widows), and Madam Xu knows and likes Wan Qing. Chairman Xia agrees, amazed at his wife's brilliance, but she says she learned everything from him. Elsewhere, Jin Fan and Xie Chuang enter Jin Fan's apartment. The two play "rock, paper, scissors" to decide who can take a shower first. Jin Fan wins. Some time later, Xie Chuang is playing video games, while Jin Fan works out. Xie Chuang's father calls him, angry that him and his friend have been spending too much company money. He tells him that Chairman Qiao is very angry and wants Jin Fan home by sunrise or there will be big trouble. Xie Chuang deduces that Chairman Qiao must know about his son's plans to build the entertainment city. He tells his friend everything, but Jin Fan thinks he can handle the company executives. Xie Chuang mock-begs him not to kill Xie Chuang's father, saying he needs to meet his grandchildren. Jin Fan asks how there could be grandchildren, as Xie Chuang has not yet been able to start a relationship with Jin Fan's sister. Embarrassed, Xie Chuang changes the subject to business. He tells Jin Fan that he will brief him the next day on the Xu Corporation land deal, and that he has found some dirt on Madam Xu, which he left on Jin Fan's bed. Jin Fan tries to guess what dirt has been found, eventually guessing correctly that it's an affair, after three guesses. Xie Chuang spent 300,000 RMB to buy this dirt. Jin Fan laments about how bad women are nowadays, and advises his friend to be careful. The two then sing a spontaneous song. Snapping back to reality, Jin Fan asks if they have any rivals, and Xie Chuang says they do have Xia Zheng Lang to contend with. Just then, Jin Fan's phone rings, interrupting their conversation. It is Xiao Ping calling, Jin Fan's lover. Jin Fan motions to Xie Chuang to be quiet, and walks away from the exercise and entertainment machine to a quiet corner where soft music is playing. He takes the call, and lies that he is still at a party. Evidently his girl is wondering if he forgot her birthday, but he assures her that he didn't, and starts to reminisce about the previous year's birthday. Elsewhere, Ling Tian is up late reading the files Chairman Xia gave him on Madam Xu's affair. Realizing the weight of what they contain, he throws them down onto a table in frustration. The next day, Jin Fan calls Xie Chuang, who is driving his car, to ask if he has left yet. Xie Chuang explains that his father turned off his phone and that he was worried his father and Chairman Qiao were going to do something bad to Qiao Jin Fan, so he's decided to go home instead and find out what is happening. SD version The SD version of the episode has only minor differences: * It is shorter (as with all SD versions) and ends with Jin Fan making his proposal to offer Madam Xu shares in Qiao Corporation * The scene where Hua and Wan Qing meet their colleagues in the lift lobby is omitted * Other minor differences (parts of some scenes are cut) Category:Episodes